Since 2020, Apple has provided iCloud data to UK authorities in response to four of more than 6,000 legal requests for customer information under non-IPA laws. This data excludes requests made under the Investigatory Powers Act (IPA), the UK's primary law for accessing tech company data.

From January 2020 to June 2023, Apple received between 0 and 499 IPA-related requests in the first half of 2023, reported in bands of 500. Due to legal limitations, Apple cannot disclose details about these requests.

Earlier reporting linked the low number of content disclosures to efforts by the UK government to force Apple to provide encrypted iCloud data. However, due to the data's lack of detail, no direct connection can be made.

The UK government previously stated that it has made over 10,000 requests to US companies since the US-UK Data Access Agreement began, providing crucial data for law enforcement in cases related to terrorism, organized crime, and other serious offenses.

Apple's transparency reports suggest that content data is shared more frequently in other countries, such as the US, where it responded to 22,306 requests in 2020-2023. In comparison, most countries see lower content disclosures due to restrictions on sharing with foreign governments.

The British government's Technical Capability Notice (TCN), revealed byThe Washington Post, follows Apple's 2022 introduction of optional end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for iCloud. While the UK government did not characterise it as such, critics see the TCN as a potential 'back door' to Apple's encrypted data. Apple has declined comment, while the UK government refrains from discussing operational matters.

The controversy reflects ongoing debates about the balance between encryption, privacy, and law enforcement access to encrypted data.